Cody Nelson, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Andrew Duncan, 31. At his arraignment this morning, defense attorney Jennifer Engelmann asked that he be sent to the state hospital for an evaluation.

While Boulder District Judge Maria Berkenkotter noted this type of request normally precedes a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Engelmann said they have not formally decided on whether they will take that route.

At the same hearing, Nelson's co-defendant in the case, Miriam Nayeh, formally pleaded not guilty to the charge of accessory to murder.

Both are due back in court Oct. 4 for the first in a series of motions hearings. Nelson remains in custody without bond and will be transported to Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, while Nayeh is free on bond.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole, while the accessory charge is a Class 4 felony that could carry two to six years in prison.

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According to prosecutors, police were called to the mobile home park at 4475 North Broadway at 8:13 a.m. Feb. 5 after witnesses reported hearing a gunshot.

Deputies arrived and found Duncan outside a trailer with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Boulder Community Health's Foothills Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Nelson made contact with police by phone from inside his trailer and was apprehended at gunpoint a short time later. Nayeh, who was also in the trailer, was taken into custody as well.

According to an arrest affidavit, Nayeh claimed she was six to seven months pregnant with Duncan's child, but told investigators that he was abusive toward her. Nayeh said Duncan had assaulted her about a month before the shooting and that she then began staying with Nelson, according to the affidavit. Nelson told police that Nayeh is his daughter, but that he only met her within the past year.

On the morning of the shooting, Nelson told police, he heard Nayeh scream, and saw Duncan assaulting her and then dragging her out of the trailer. Nelson told police he grabbed his handgun and shot Duncan nine or 10 times while he was on top of Nayeh outside the trailer.

But a witness to the shooting told investigators Nelson shot Duncan at point-blank and then shot him several more times once he was down on the ground.

Other eyewitnesses told police they saw Nayeh go up to Duncan's body post-shooting and take something from his person. Detectives said that the investigation into the shooting was hindered by an inability to collect evidence that Nayeh allegedly tampered with.

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